Following last week’s non-binding, indicative takeover proposal from the US group, Brookfield Property Group had launched its own bid for our biggest land lease operator with an offer of $2.30 per share to Hometown’s $2.20, or $690 million.
Brookfield is one of our largest asset managers around $20 billion in assets under management including construction contractor Multiplex which they acquired in 2008.
Gateway told the ASX it would provide due diligence access to Brookfield under an exclusivity agreement for a minimum of six weeks – shutting out Hometown’s offer.
Separately Brookfield also entered a confidentiality agreement with Gateway that includes a 12-month halt on the acquisition of any Gateway securities.
As we covered here, Hometown had already entered pre-bid agreements with four of Gateway’s major investors to gain control of 17.8% of its shares when it made its proposal.
Now the US group has revised its original offer to $2.35 under the same conditions – except that Hometown now wants to conduct due diligence on a non-exclusive basis.
Hometown has a potential 18.2% stake in Gateway’s securities which signals serious intent to us – but will Gateway agree?
Its board says it remains committed to “maximizing value for securityholders” and will assess the Hometown proposal – including any implications for its exclusivity agreement with Brookfield.
